Track-fastening.



No. 795,971, PATENTBD JULY 19, 1905. F. SMITH.

. y 'fl Patented July 18, 1905.

PATENT Ori-rica.

FRANK SMITH, OF LINDSEY, OHIO.

TR'ACK-FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 795,071, dated July 18,1905.

Application filed April Z7, 1905. Serial No. 257,611.

To @ZZ whom, it ntcty concern:

Beit known that l, FRANK SMITH, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Lindsey, county of Sandusky, State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Track-Fastenings,of which the following is a full and clear specilication, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l represents avertical longitudinal section of my device applied to a tie ofordinaryconstruction, the tie being partlybroken away to show theanchoring-bolts; Fig. 2, a plan view of the same; Figs. 3 and 4, detailperspective views of the rail-clamping plates; and Fig. 5,a transversesection on the line 5 5 of Figl.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved rail-fasteningdevice which will not only avoid the necessity of spiking the rails tothe ties, but which will also effectually prevent spreading of the railsand serve las an efficient means for quickly gaging the track, as morefully hereinafter set forth.

To the accomplishment of this object and such others as may hereinafterappear, the invention consists of the parts and combination of partshereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a partof this specification, in which the same reference characters designatelike parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings by letters, a designates the tie, b the rails,and c the main railsupporting clamp-plates, these plates being fastenedto the tie so that the rail shall rest thereon and each plate beingprovided at its outer end with a lip c, which engages the -outer flangeof the rail.

Each of the chair-plates c is slotted longitudinally at g inside of therail, and passing through this slot is a long bolt c', which eX- tendsentirely through the tie, its head engaging the under side thereof andits upper threaded end passing up through the slot g and being providedwith a nut. The upper threaded end of this bolt also passes through alongitudinal slot e in a plate d, which is clamped down on plate g bythe nut on bolt e and which is provided at its outer end with a lip d',which engages over the inner flange of the rail. The plate d is providedwith another longitudinal slotj'between the bolt e and the inner end ofthe plate, and passing through this slot is a short boltj". rl`his boltf passes up through slot g and the slotjI and is provided with a nut onits upper end which clamps down on the upper face of plate d and assiststhe bolt e. in clamping the plate d in its adjusted positions. This boltf is prevented from rotating and sliding in the slot g by having itshead countersunk in the under side of the chair-plate c, as shown morepar ticularly in Fig. 5.

The inner end of each chair-plate is provided with an upturned lug 7L,which is provided with a threaded opening h, the threaded opening in onelug being in line with that of the other. Screwed into these openingsare the opposite ends of a reversely-threaded bolt c, which is providedwith an angular en-` largement or head 7c about midway its length forthe reception of a wrench. Lock-nutsm are screwed on the threaded partsof the bolt k and are adapted to impinge against the inner faces of lugsh, and thereby lock the adj usting-bolt in its adjusted position andprevent it being jarred loose.

By loosening the nuts on bolts e it will be observed that the rails maybe spread farther apart or drawn nearer together by sim- -ply turningthe adjusting-bolt 7C one way or the other. This adjustment of therails, it will be observed, is accomplished without loosening orremoving the clamp-plates d, the short bolts j" being allowed to remaintight; but if it be desired to adjust either of the clamp-plates d thismay be readily done by loosening the nuts on both the long and the shortbolts.

lt will be observed that my track-fastening avoids altogether the use ofthe usual spikes and will permit the use of old ties which will nolonger hold spikes, new ties being necessary only every eight or tenfeet to give the track-holder a firmer support than the old ties afford.It will be observed also that with a tie-holder constructed like mine itwill be possible to use concrete, cement, or other IOO ties. Thecontacting faces of the plates d and c may be transversely corrugated toprevent them slipping.

It Will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various mechanicalembodiments of the invention are possible, and I therefore do not Wishto be limited to the exact arrangement and construction shown.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In combination With a tie, a pair of chair-plates provided With meansat their outer ends for engaging the outer langes of the rails andslotted longitudinally at points Within the rails, an adjustingreverselythreaded bolt connecting the inner' ends of these chair-plates,lock-nuts on this bolt, a slotted clamp-plate on each chair-plate andprovided with a lip engaging the inner flange of the rail, a short boltclamping each pair of plates together, and a longer bolt clamping eachpair of plates together and to the tie, substantiallyT as set forth.

2. In combination with a tie, a pair of chair-plates resting on the tieand adapted to support the rails and provided at their outer ends withmeans engaging the outer flanges of the rails, each oi these platesbeing slotted at a point inside of the rail, means for adjust-

